Kamille Willi
Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion. –Martha Graham. Kamille has had a passion for dance since the age of three when her parents enrolled her in ballet and tap at Dance Arts in her hometown of Cleburne, Texas. As she grew she expanded upon her technique in ballet, pointe, tap, & jazz. At the age of twelve, Dance Arts had closed & Kamille pursued competitive gymnastics, cheerleading, and jazz funk at Miss Tammy’s Cheer & Dance Company until she graduated from high school.
Not ready to leave dancing behind, Kamille continued to pursue dance in higher education. At Kilgore College, she was introduced to modern dance and improvisation. In 2004, she attended the American College Dance Festival Association, a weeklong opportunity to take dance classes taught by faculty from other universities as well as famed choreographers. A performance from the University of North Texas at ACDFA moved her in a way that made her long to attend there after finishing at Kilgore. In 2005, she took a piece choreographed with a fellow student from Kilgore to ACDFA. She was blown away by UNT and knew in her heart that is where she belonged.
In the summer of 2006, Kamille auditioned for a spot in the University of Dance & Theatre Department and was thrilled to be accepted. It was at UNT she thrived, filling her day with dance classes and performing in the works of upperclassmen in their semester long choreographic process. She appeared in every Junior Choreographers Concert and Senior Choreographers Concert for three years, as well as performing in the Theatre Departments Alice Through the Looking Glass. She also performed in faculty-choreographed works in the Faculty Dance Concert Landscapes of the Body. Each year at UNT, Kamille had the opportunity to take classes from the resident company, such as the Jose Limon Company and the Dallas Black Company. Her education consisted of exploring Dance History from the beginnings of ballet, in to the birth of modern dance, and on to present day techniques. In Dance and Technology she learned to mesh dance with multi-media mediums such as film and still photography. She studied Survey of Dance, which captured different culture’s specific dance mediums and the effects each culture has on dance as a whole. Kamille studied Graham, Horton, Alexander techniques of modern dance, and Laban Movement Analysis, as well as Bartenieff Fundamentals of kinesiological functioning of the human body. She was also classically trained in the Cecchetti method of ballet. She found her passion for teaching in Dance Pedagogy her senior year at UNT as she instructed creative movement to pre-school aged children, using methods from Anne Green Gilbert of engaging young brains through dance. While at UNT, Kamille was a member of dance honor society Chi Tau Epsilon and was president of the campus club Dance UNiT. Kamille graduated in 2009 from UNT, Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance Performance & Education.
After graduating from UNT, Kamille returned home to work for Cleburne ISD Community Education, teaching beginning and intermediate ballet and creative movement. She also worked for Cleburne Christian Academy in the fine arts department teaching beginning ballet with creative movement and intermediate ballet. She also served as a member of Cleburne Bible Church Dance Worship team. Kamille believes that dance in more than just movement, dance is a mind/body connection that is ever evolving, one full of knowledge and passion.
